Jun 22, 2026 · 5 min
Northam is a small town approximately 100KM East of Perth. During WW2 it supported the US Navy's 7th Fleet operating out of Fremantle. The nearby locality of Springhill housed the bunkers of the '7 Naval Ammunition Depot' (7 NAD) storing ordnance the US, British and Dutch submarines needed to take the war to the Japanese. Torpedoes, shells, small arms and explosives were housed there and shipped by rail to the port at Fremantle. 7 NAD was one of three US Naval Ammunition Depots throughout Australia, the others being at Mount Coot-tha, Brisbane and Newington, Sydney.